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Dodgers Offseason Strategy - Please Speculate

With the GM meetings over, winter meetings just around the corner, and the recent announcement of the TV deal, it appears the Dodgers are in a prime position to make some noise again here in the offseason.

I have my own theory on how the Dodgers will approach this offseason which I will share later, but I was curious as to what your thoughts are.

Please feel free to answer this question with the hypothetical "if I were GM...", or purely by speculating how it will be approached.

If i were gm i would sign the only true ace on the market call it a day and maybe make a move at the trade dead line when teams want to have their fire sale ....no need to spend crazy now the FA market is kinda weak imo

Sign Haren and revisit and make happen the trade in Philly for Cliff Lee. Gives you 2 solid starters in Kershaw, Lee, along with Haren, Beckett, and either Bills (Injury?) or Harang.

Trade Either and Dee Gordon. Keep Ellis for one more year so we can land the best 2nd baseman in baseball next offseason, Cano.

AGon, Ellis, Ramirez and Youk at 3rd. Add AJ behind the plate, Crawford in left, Kemp in CF and Hamilton in right.

Crawford
Mark Ellis
Kemp
AGon
Hamilton
Ramirez
Youk
AJ Ellis

A healthy Crawford and Kemp would be awesome and Hanley should get you 20+ SB but the power in that line up is off the chart. AGon gets way more fastballs with Hamilton batting behind him and a man on first and/or second. Just gotta get those guys to hit for average. Long ball is nice but we need the guys who will hit singles and doubles and move the runners over. Hanley and Kemp may be the biggest benefactor of this line up.

Winter meetings thread

It might take a while for the Dodgers to nail down their pitching staff this winter. The big names, such as Zack Greinke and Anibal Sanchez, remain unsigned and they might remain so until at least the middle of next week. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have until Dec. 10 to sign Ryu Hyun-jin or he will return to pitch in his native Korea.

While all that is sorting itself out, the Dodgers could probably settle one bit of off-season business fairly quickly, landing a fourth outfielder who could be insurance as Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp recover from surgeries. Getting another outfielder would allow Jerry Hairston Jr. to be the primary reserve infielder, marginalizing Juan Uribe even further, which is probably a good thing.

The Dodgers have already said their ideal candidate hits right-handed (since Crawford, Andre Ethier and Adrian Gonzalez are all lefties) and has the ability to play center field. That's why the team briefly looked into signing Torii Hunter, who was intent on signing quickly. The problem was, they could only promise him about 350 at-bats and Hunter elected to take a more prominent role (and $26 million over two years) from the Detroit Tigers.

The good news for the Dodgers is that there is a relatively deep market for outfielders. The bad news is that most of them are corner outfielder types and, of the few who can play center field, most hit left-handed.

Shane Victorino, in some ways, looks like the team's best bet, but like Hunter, he let it be known he still viewed himself as an everyday player.

It would be surprising if the Dodgers haven't checked in on Reed Johnson, 36, who had a solid season (.290) playing for both for the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, bats right-handed and plays all three outfield spots.

Another former Dodger, Scott Podsednik, could be in the mix. After playing all of 2011 in the minor leagues, Podsednik got a chance with the injury-ravaged Boston Red Sox and batted .302 in 216 plate appearances. Grady Sizemore has the biggest upside of the players available, but he missed all of last season with knee injuries and is still reportedly working his way back. Rick Ankiel is drawing so little interest from teams, according to reports, that he has considered trying to pitch again.

There is, of course, always the possibility of a trade and several teams have a glut of outfielders. In fact, one of those teams plays about 30 miles away. It's fair to see if Vernon Wells is available.

Sign Haren and revisit and make happen the trade in Philly for Cliff Lee. Gives you 2 solid starters in Kershaw, Lee, along with Haren, Beckett, and either Bills (Injury?) or Harang.

Trade Either and Dee Gordon. Keep Ellis for one more year so we can land the best 2nd baseman in baseball next offseason, Cano.

AGon, Ellis, Ramirez and Youk at 3rd. Add AJ behind the plate, Crawford in left, Kemp in CF and Hamilton in right.

Crawford
Mark Ellis
Kemp
AGon
Hamilton
Ramirez
Youk
AJ Ellis

A healthy Crawford and Kemp would be awesome and Hanley should get you 20+ SB but the power in that line up is off the chart. AGon gets way more fastballs with Hamilton batting behind him and a man on first and/or second. Just gotta get those guys to hit for average. Long ball is nice but we need the guys who will hit singles and doubles and move the runners over. Hanley and Kemp may be the biggest benefactor of this line up.

I agree, I think we're going to sneak in on Hamilton, not so sure about Youk as he is on the decline, but he'll likely be a 1 or 2 year deal so its absolutely feasible.

Considering the money the Dodgers have, the depth they're continuing to acquire, and the minimal number of "marquee" free agents available, the Dodgers are in a position to dominate the market this off-season.

The Dodgers biggest trade asset is not a particular player or group of players, but the money they can spend in free agency. Call me crazy, but I believe the Dodgers will sign Greinke, one of Sanchez or Lohse, and yes... even Josh Hamilton. When that happens, the players currently under contract will become harder for other teams to pass on as potential trade pieces.

We already know Guggenheim is willing to reach into its moneybags to make the team better, and though many believe that Ethier's contract is too much for any coherent team to take on, consider how desperate those teams will become when the one major free agent bat is taken off the market. If five teams are in on Hamilton right now, five teams will still have a void to fill when the Dodgers sign him. Andre Ethier will become a much more enticing trade piece especially in bandboxes like Milwaukee and Texas.

According to multiple reports today, the Dodgers are now the favorite to land Greinke and the Angels seem to be out of the mix. I'd imagine it won't be too long before we hear news on the Dodgers' pursuit of additional pitchers, and possibly rumors about Josh Hamilton. Expect the Dodgers to be a bully on the free agent market, taking all of the available assets and, in doing so, providing a kick to the trade market.

I think we are going to net Greinke now that I hear the Angels dont want to pay him his figure. I would love to have him even at the premium he will require. Greinke and Kershaw 1-2 is awesome. I think we also offer a decent contract to Ryu but I have a feeling we are going to get another couple surprises now that we have money coming out the *** with that new tv deal about done.